A pain-filled screech ripped through a cold city's air exactly 42 minutes past 3 AM on Tuesday, February 16th, 2011. It was on some back alley in Seattle. Unnatural amounts of blood were splattered on the ground, a trail leading up to a back door of an unfinished building. No vagabond walking by would be able to tell, however, seeing as the rain slammed down in sheets and the fluorescent light bulbs in the street lamps flickered to their end. Small vertebrae, teeth, and fingernails hit the ground one scream at a time, falling from the top level of the building. No one heard anything though, seeing as there was a heavy thunderstorm right above the building, but a few individual "drunks" stumbled pass to see a glow come from the structure, changing colors fluidly... Strange enough, absolutely no one remembers anything about it. Rotting organs were found a 12 days later.

The case was filed as 'Unsolved.'

The same night, Dean and Sam, who were staying up late in a bar in the lower regions of Nebraska, were relaxing (after finally ganking a stray vamp that picked off middle schoolers) and knew nothing what was happening in Washington. They blamed that unnerving chill that ran down their spine on remembering the handful of corpse's of local 13 year olds, a few they had to kill themselves. They were silent that night, letting the bile sink back down to the bottom of their throat. They drowned themselves in women and booze, waiting for the memories to fade. Neither of them were successful in shaking that sinking feeling that something was coming for their souls, though.

6 months later, when the boys were sleeping, and the sun was rising over the hills someplace in Nevada, Castiel was there. He was assigned to keep 24 hour direct surveillance on the two of them until orders were otherwise given. Not that he minded. He was always ready to bleed for the Winchesters. He stood in the same spot he appeared in until they woke, grinning to himself occasionally at jokes that he made in his mind. Suddenly there was a gun pointed at his head, only to be lowered immediately in relief. Sam let out a loud breath from the bed.

"Cas? What the hell! I almost shot you, dude. What are you doing here?" He stressed. He blinked hard a few times at the bright daylight that streamed through a hole in the curtains. They made the mistake of choosing the motel that was right next to the highway. Horns blared and motors revved in the early morning rush hour. Dean didn't stay asleep for much longer.

"I..." Cas started, as Dean rolled over to yawn and meet his eyes. "I was sent here to watch over you."

"We can take care of ourselves, thank you." Dean grounded out. How dare the angels still accuse him and his brother of being weak. 'After all the tea parties they attended, too,' Dean thought sarcastically. "Why, what do they think we need protection from?" Cas shuffled uneasily.

"Do you recall the 'Mother of All'?" He mumbled, almost nervously. There was a small part of him... that was scared about what was to come. Of course he knew, his fated end was approaching rapidly. He didn't want Sam and Dean to be aggravated with him for the rest of his remainder though.

"What?! What the HELL does she have to do with anything?" Dean roared, now fully awake and standing. It was too early for any 'elusive angel' crap. Cas rushed on.

"It turns out before her time ended, she delivered one last abomination to man. We knew nothing about it until a couple nights ago. It has been hiding along the west coast for some time, separating human's and beast's anatomical structures. Every time it attacks, there's a thunderstorm around, and the memory of every living thing and electronic recording device is completely of the event. We don't know why it's here or it's purpose. And we also don't know how to even fight it. It's been complete-" Cas lets out a deep, shaky breath, and met their eyes. "Chaos. Everyone is frantic upstairs."

"So what," Sam spoke up. He was standing now, pulling a plaid button-up over his wifebeater. "do you guys even know what you are hunting for?"

"Well there's a theory, but it's not a stable one. Some are calling it 'Glow Cloud', and others call it 'oculi omnium', or 'The Eyes of All'. Presumably, since Eve's was nicknamed 'Mother of All', this was meant to be some sort of scavenger for her."

"If it's a scavenger, why is a cloud playing 'science lab' with humans and monsters? Is it looking for something inside of someone... or thing?" Dean gandered. Cas shrugged. His eyes were cast downward, and he was leaning up against a table. "...Cas? Is there something you're not telling us?"

Cas nodded at the carpet, and then rolled his eyes, shaking his head in disappointment. He crossed his arms and looked up at them through his lashes, sighing. "My superiors think I should take you to hunt for it. I, of course, told them that it is a bad idea, since it is." It sounded like that last part he was saying to himself in disbelief.

"And why is that, Cas?" Dean stretched his arms, expelling a breath.

"Because, Dean," Cas sounded incredulous. "I'm not going to let you two risk your lives to be the beta fight for the angels! They know nothing about the thing, they don't even know what it looks like. So there is no way, on Earth, in Heaven or in Hell that I would let you!"

Dean smirked. 'Like that ever stopped us.'He got out of bed, pulling on his combat boots and grabbing his keys from the nightstand. The clock on the wall by the door read 10:46. He dragged the pistol out from underneath his pillow. Pocketing it in his leather jacket, he turned back to them. "Fine. Whatever. Let's grab some grub before we hit the road. If we hurry, we could get something off the breakfast menu at the restaurant down the street."

"Where are we going?" Cas worried that Dean didn't try to argue. He was planning something. Dean met his eyes with a grin. "Sherrie's."

Cas let out an exasperated sigh. "And after that?"

"I imagine the bathroom. Their sausages don't settle well with me, but damn are they good."

"Dean!" Cas closed his eyes in agitation.

"I don't know, maybe west. I hear they have nice beaches."

"Damn it Dean, I'm not going to let you-" Cas started to roar, but Dean cut him off.

"Shut it, Cas. I'm hungry." And with that, he left the room, Sam in tow, who shot Cas an apologetic glance.

Turns out, breakfast ended at 10:30. But Dean may or may not have already known that. So he bought Castiel a burger in case he wanted it, Sam a salad, and himself a BLT. The burger definitely lightened Cas's mood to the point of laughter. Just as planned. He smoothed talked and buttered up Cas just enough for a grunt of defeat and approval for looking for this cloud thing. Dean inwardly grinned at successfully making his friend happier. He'll never say it out loud, but Dean always felt best when he's the reason that someone is smiling. Probably because most of the time he feels like the reason why people are not smiling is because of him. It's a nice change. They left the restaurant full, happy, and with the waitresses number. Too bad they were heading out of town.

Sam is not particularly fond of Washington. L.A and Portland aren't that bad. He doesn't mind searching for this 'Glow cloud' down there. But the last time he was in Seattle, a all-too-happy pagan god pulled off his fingernail with a set of pliers. Not the funnest memories to have of the place.

So you can then imagine the uneasiness in Sam's stomach as the three of them pulled up to the docks by the newly ferris wheel a week later. It also, could be the fact that they all have had a little extra time to fantasize and over exaggerate about this new monster. What happens when they can't find it? Or worse, they run into it, blind, and someone gets seriously hurt.

They decided Sam would set up at a nearby hotel, and get some research in: See if anything like this has ever happened... or at least get wind of whispers and rumors. Might be helpful. Dean and Cas would head out and get a look at the remaining pieces of corpses.

It was shaping up to be a long day.

Dean slid behind the wheel in his new rental suit, feeling a bit fancier than usual. He had to admit, With Cas in a suit that fitted him, he looked damn good. On the way over, Dean had Cas practice pulling out his badge correctly, much to his own amusement. Dean's eyes never really left Cas. It was still nice, having him around. Seeing him in the passenger seat next to him... It never got old. Not to mention when Cas started singing along to "Enter Sandman" Dean's insides felt flippedy. Sam rarely ever sang along with him. Realization kinda slapped Dean in the face that:

Castiel actually cared enough about him to learn the lyrics to his favorite music. No one else had done that. Ever.

From the corner of Cas's eye, he could always see Dean staring. Finally he glanced over while singing to see Dean's fictional-green eyes wide with an emotion Cas couldn't quite place. Dean's jaw was slightly slack, his smooth lips parting just enough to let his tongue out and quickly swipe his lips, and to stir up some flutters in Cas's stomach. Dean didn't even realize what he was doing, or realize that he was spending too much time staring. They just felt comfortable around each other. Enough to let their guard down so much so that they forget that they aren't actually hunters, killing machines, and honestly... Broken.

"Thanks," Dean said when the song ended. His eyes gazed back to the road, and a heartbreaking smile graced his lips, making Castiel's insides do the thing again.

"For what?" The angel's honest-to-God-blue eyes felt like they could start a fire, with the intensity that they were burning into Dean's side.

"...Being here. Caring as much as you do." Dean's face was getting warmer, which thankfully was hard to see in the poor afternoon's light. "The only other person that cares as much as you do is Sam... And that's saying something. So... Thank you. I don't say that as much as you deserve it from me."

A fond smile graced Cas's lips and he watched Dean's eyes soften, at meet his own for a moment, before casting out over the road. He didn't know how to respond. So instead he let the city lights and smell of the Impala and Dean and the sound of Metallica overtake his senses for a bit. 'This is nice. This is easy. This is a good way to go... with memories of Dean.'